Paper cup



E. R. HUNTLEY Oct. 8, 1935.

PAPER CUP Filed April 11, 1954 INVENTOR MM m4 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 8, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PAPER our Application April 11, 1934, Serlal'No. 719,993

6 Claims. (Cl. 229-21) This invention relates to paper cups, and par- 'ticularly to that class of cups which may be designated as one-service cups, i. e. cups which are intended to be used a single time and then discarded. Since these cups are adapted for various uses, they are'usually designated as drinking cups, scufli cups or ramekins, depending on the use to which they are to be put; and the size and shape of the cup is proportioned accordingly.

In cups of this character it is necessary to make them as economically as possible. Furthermore, while such cups are intended to be used only once, they should be pleasing in appearance, sufiiciently tough and stiff while in use for the intended purpose, susceptible to ease of destruction when they have served their purpose,

" and also, when used as drinking cups, they should be of such configuration at the upper edge as to provide comfort when engaged by the lips of the user.

An object of this invention is to produce an article possessing the foregoing desirable useful and structural advantages, while at the same time permitting of rapid and economical production methods in their manufacture.

This invention consists in the novel features, arrangements and combination of parts embodied by way of example in the article hereinafter described as illustrating a preferred form of the invention, and the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following specification and claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the cup, the particular proportions of which are illustrated in a preferred form for use as a drinking cup;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the cup of Fig. 1 viewed from a different angle;

Fig. 3 is a plan view looking down on Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken at 4-4 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 5, 6 and "7 are sectional views taken respectively at -5, 6,6 and 'I-'l of Fig. 1, showing further details of the rim or upper edge of thecup on an enlarged scale.

' Referring to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3: the cup is formed from a single piece of relative thin paper, or like material, which is preferably in the shape of a circular disc or blank. The paper is folded up into cup form providing an integrally formed bottom 1 and pleated side wall which will be designated in general as 2; the pleats of the side wall extending upwardly to the top of the cup at which point a lip or upper edge is designated in general as 3. The bottom of the cup is of polygonal outline which is defined by the relatively long sides 4 and-relatively short sides 5; the long and short 5 sides alternating around the perimeter of the cup bottom. The side walls of the cup are produced by forming the disc into what is known as box pleats. These box pleats each assume the position indicated in Fig. 4, from which it will be seen that each box pleat commences along a side 5, at the outer extremities of which the box pleat, such as 6, has its outer folds indicated by the lines I and 8 which are on the outer side of the cup wall and the inner folds of the pleat indicated as 9 and 10 which fall on the inner side of the cup wall. The sides 4 of the polygonal bottom extend between adjacent pleats at the bottom of the cup. As the side walls progress upwardly from the polygonal bottom of the cup, they merge into a circular side wall which terminates in the circular lip portion 3.

Referring to Fig. 5: it will be seen that the side wall of the cup is dented or offset outwardly at II to provide an annular offset or shoulder por- 5 tion which defines the lower edge of the lip, and from the shoulder H the wall of the lip flares upwardly and outwardly along a curved path, and the extreme upper edge of the lip is turned outwardly to conceal the edges of the paper and produce a smooth rim. The outwardly flaring lip of the cup commencing at the shoulder II is compressed vertically to crinkle or upset the paper stock in the manner indicated, while at the same time the inner and outer faces I! and I3 5 are supported laterally and ironed such as by a spinning operation to produce substantially glazed surfaces, which are smooth and relatively hard as compared to the paper stock of the body of the cup. During this operation the upper edge I5 is compressed into the form indicated. The operations just described produce a wall thickness at the lip of the cup substantially greater than the corresponding adjacent wall portions below the shoulder II. It is further noted that the upsetting of the stock as indicated in Fig. 5 produces a crinkled condition between the laminations on the interior of the lip, which provide in effect discontinuous and irregularly disposed recesses in one lamination, into which'project corresponding tongues or extensions from the adjacent lamination to thereby provide an interlocking between the overlapping portions of the pleats in the wall of the lip at these points. It

will therefore be seen that such formation firmly locks the overlapping pleats together at the rim and due to the circumferential extent of the box pleats at the lip of the cup, as shown in 11g. 4, a very satisfactory result is produced.

As indicated in Fla. 6, the slight space between adjacent outer edges of the box pleats provides a single wall thickness between pleats at this point at which the stock is formed as shown in Fig. 8, and the inner face of this wall is provided with irregularly disposed raised areas, such as It, which are ironed or burnished to some extent during the upsetting process above described; the outer face of this wall at this point being recessed between the adjacent pleats by a surface somewhat more irregular; the net result being, however, that the lip portion at this point is also substantially stifl'ened laterally by means of the peculiar formation of the wall above referred to.

Fig. 7 shows the formation of the single thickness of the wall of the lip at the middle of the box pleat in between the inner folds 9 and Iii (Figs. 2 and 4) of the same and this portion is substantially the same as the wall portion indicated in Fig. 6, except that the outer faces of the raised areas, such as 17, are slightly burnished.

Accordingly it will be understood that the lip portion provides a stiif, tough and durable outwardly flaring portion highly compressed and having its outer and inner faces glazed around substantially the entire periphery. The particular formation of the lip produces a very pleasing and attractive appearance and in addition provides a lip which is very comfortable to use while at the same time having a relatively smooth and pleasing upper edge which is very thin and practically imperceptible to the lips of the user. This structure therefore has advantages over both the raw unfinished edge as well as the heavier and thicker rims, such as is usually found in one or the other types of cups in use, and at the same time the structure obviates the necessity of the employment of adhesive or stiffening coatings such as wax, the use of which adds greatly to the expense of such articles.

Having thus described my invention with particularity with reference to its preferred form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that other changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and I aim in the appended claims to cover such changes and modifications as are within the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a pleated side wall with overlapping portions of said pleates extending upwardly to and forming a part of a lip, said lip flaring upwardly and outwardly and being crinkled and compressed to provide a wall thickness substantially greater than corresponding adjacent side wall portions of said cup below said lip, the outer and inner faces of said lip at the overlapping portions of said pleats being relatively smooth and hard, and said lip being provided at its upper extremity with an outwardly extending turned-over edge.

2. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a pleated side wall with overlapping portions of said pleats extending upwardly to and forming a part of a lip, said lip being curved in an upwardly and outwardly direction and being crinkled or compressed to provide awsllthicknesssubstantiallygreaterthancorresponding adjacent side wall portions of said cup below said lip. the outer and inner faces of said lip at the overlapping portions of said pleats being relatively smooth and hard, said lip being 5 provided at its upper extremity with a tightly cegrnpressed outwardly extending turned-over 3. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a pleated side wall with 10 overlapp a portions of said pleats extending upwardly to and forming a part of a lip, said lip at its lower edge being ofi'set outwardly at an annular shoulder defining its juncture with the main side wall and flaring upwardly and out- 15 wardly from said shoulder and being provided at its upper extremity with a tightly compressed turned-over edge, and said lip between said shoulder and edge being crinkled and compressed and thereby rendered substantially thicker than cor- 20 responding adjacent side wall portions of said cup.

4. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a side wall of box pleats with overlapping portions of said respective pleats ex- 25 tending upwardly from adjacent said bottom to and forming a part of the extreme upper edge of a lip for said cup, said lip comprising said upwardly extending overlapping portions of said pleats turned outwardly downwardly and ini wardly to provide a finished peripheral edge of substantially greater thickness than the paper stock of said cup and serving to enclose the edges of said paper stock, said cup being substantially circular at the lip and polygonal at the bottom, 3 and the sides of said polygon being coextensive with the lateral spacing of the lower extremities of said pleats.

5. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a side wall oi box pleats 40 with overlapping portions of said respective pleats extending upwardly from adjacent said bottom to and forming a part of the extreme upper edge of a lip for said cup, said lip comprising said upwardly extending overlapping portions of said 45 pleats turned outwardly downwardly and inwardly to provide a finished peripheral edge of substantially greater thickness than the paper stock of said cup and serving to enclose the edges of said paper stock, said cup being substantially 50 circular at the lip and polygonal at the bottom, and said pleats increasing in width from their lower extremities upwardly toward said lip with the upper fold of each pleat lying in contact with its respectivelyadjacent portion of said side wall. 55

6. A one-piece paper cup comprising a body having a bottom and a side wall of box pleats with overlapping portions of said respective pleats extending upwardly from adjacent said bottom to and forming a part of the extreme upper edge of 00 a lip for said cup, said lip comprising said upwardly extending overlapping portions of said pleats turned outwardly downwardly and inwardly to provide a finished peripheral edge of substantially greater thickness than the paper stock of said cup and serving to enclose the edges of said paper stock, said cup being substantially circular at the lip and polygonal at the bottom, 181d polygon comprising alternate long and relatively short sides, said long sides extending be- 7 tween adjacent pleats and said short sides defining the lower limits of said box pleats.

ERNEST R. HUNTLEY.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 2,016,434. October 8,1935.

ERNEST R. HUNTLEY.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, first column, line 73, claim 2, for "or" read and; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and scaled this 5th day of November, A. D. 1935.

Leslie Frazer (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents; 

